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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22670956">0. The Fool</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/monodramatic/pseuds/monodramatic'>monodramatic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>3H Tarot Prompts [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(only for their paralogue), Ambiguous Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Gen, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Spoilers, i guess it can be read as shippy?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:08:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>790</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22670956</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/monodramatic/pseuds/monodramatic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“This is an awful idea.”<br/>“Are you kidding me? This is a great idea!”<br/>“And why are you getting me involved?”<br/>“Because you told me about it so you have to come and help!”<br/>“But have you considered that I don’t <i>want</i> to help."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Linhardt von Hevring &amp; Leonie Pinelli</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>3H Tarot Prompts [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1620109</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>0. The Fool</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>like the tags say, this is about their paralogue. i love these two, i had so much fun writing them, and i really wish they had more interactions in canon. leonie deserves so much more love than she gets, and if nobody else is gonna do it, i have to.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“This is an awful idea.”<br/>
“Are you kidding me? This is a great idea!”<br/>
“And why are you getting me involved?”<br/>
“Because you told me about it so you have to come and help!”<br/>
“But have you considered that I don’t <i>want</i> to help.”</p><p>	And yet here he is anyways. There’s just something about Leonie that makes it impossible to say no to her. Maybe it’s the freckles? It’s probably the freckles. Her damn freckles convinced him to come to this filthy lake. All he’s hoping for now is that he won’t have to dive into the murky water himself. It would take <i>weeks</i> to feel clean again.</p><p>	Leonie, on the other hand, seems to be having a fantastic time. Talking Linhardt’s ear off, asking questions about the legend that she doesn’t even bother to let him answer. The rest of their forces march behind them, but Leonie insisted the two of them ride ahead and lead “their” mission. If she wants to call it that, fine. Linhardt knows from past experience that it’s just not worth arguing with her. Or anyone for that matter, but especially her.</p><p>	The air around them thickens with fog and the smell of the nearby lake. Leonie leans forward on her horse and holds her torch ahead, as if that’ll help her any. She squints a little bit. It didn’t help her. But she’s nothing if not stubborn, and she would rather eat one of her boots than turn back now.</p><p>	That’s when they hear it. A guttural roar that echoes off the water that smells close, but still remains unseen thanks to the fog. The cry is loud, but it still sounds far away. If they lay low and keep quiet, maybe they can sneak by without alerting the beast on the other side.</p><p>	As if on cue, unfamiliar faces appear from behind their troops, boxing them in. At first, Linhardt is convinced they aren’t real. That the fog and the musty smell of the lake are making him hallucinate. He closes his eyes and rubs his temples. Nope. Still there.</p><p>	The Professor doesn’t even need to call them to arms. They enter formation on instinct - maybe not their neatest formation, thanks to the fog - before the battle descends into chaos. Even with nearly everyone carrying a torch, it’s still hard for anyone to distinguish ally from foe until they’re right on top of one another. Their instinct carried them this far, and that’s all they have to guide them through.</p><p>	Byleth is trying to direct them, but almost nobody can hear through the sounds of battle, especially as everyone spreads apart onto the walkways that span the lake. The walkways are really too narrow for combat, but they’ll have to make due as best they can.</p><p>	The tides turn more in their favor when Linhardt and Marianne begin shooting lights into the sky from opposite sides of the field. It’ll drain them of their energy much more quickly, but it’s a necessary sacrifice. The momentary flashes of light allow everyone to gain their bearings a little and, more importantly, see where they are in relation to each other.</p><p>	Bodies begin to fall into the lake, disappearing under the surface immediately in the dark water. The battle continues to move across the water, and more enemy units fall. They’ve nearly forgotten about the beast until it stands in front of them, standing its ground. They have it surrounded on all sides, but the sheer size of the thing shows this isn’t going to be easy.</p><p>	It’s Leonie that fells the beast in the end, her lance slashing into its exposed throat. She narrowly escapes being flattened underneath it, and she makes a note to pamper her horse a little extra when they return to the Monastery. The smell of the lake mingles with the smell of the beast’s blood, and Linhardt has no time for celebrating when he’s too busy trying to stay on his feet.</p><p>	Noticing a faint glow from the beast’s slightly open mouth, Leonie dismounts her horse and steps forward. With a considerable amount of effort, she manages to pry the jaw open and reach for the light inside. Her hand closes around it and she pulls out a large brass bow. It’s wet and slimy, but she thinks it’s just about the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen.</p><p>	She runs to Linhardt and crushes him in a hug that nearly knocks him off his feet. She smells <i>awful</i>. She’s babbling on about something, but Linhardt is too exhausted at this point to care very much. He does manage to catch the tail end of her chattering before everyone regroups.</p><p>“See, Lin! I <i>told</i> you this was a great idea!”</p>
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